Knitting of garments on straightbar machines and in means therefor



1937- H. w. START El AL 2,090,600

KNITTING OF GARMENTS ON STRAIGHT BAR MACHINES AND IN MEANS THEREFORFiled Dec. 17, 1936 UNITED STATES attic KNITTING OF GARMENTS ONSTRAIGHT- BAR MACHINES AND IN MEANS THERE- FOR Harry Wilfred Start,Carlton, and Ernest Start,

Wilford, England, assignors to George Blackburn and Sons Limited,Nottingham, England Application December 17, 1936, Serial No. 116,400 InGreat Britain November 29, 1935 6 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in the method of knittinggarments on straight-bar machines and in means therefor, and it isspecially adapted to the knitting of hose in which the leg and fore partof the foot are knitted without any interruption or break, and the partswhich form the heel are subsequently knitted on the same or a different:machine.

In order to knit the heel parts after finishing the fore part of thefoot, a start of a new course has to be made at an intermediate point inthe foot portion already knitted, and this can at the present time onlybe done on a machine which 1 is specially constructed for the purpose.

knitting of the heel parts can be completed. The

reason the first course cannot be knitted at an intermediate point in agarment on an ordinary machine, is, that part of the already knittedgarment must in this case be disposed on the inner side of the needles,and the knocking over bits which are disposed just below the sinkers ina machine of the cotton type on which such hose are knitted, will notpermit of this course being adopted.

According to this invention, the special appliance comprises a needlebar with tricks in which a series of butted needles are disposed, a cambox which engages with the needle butts and can be traversed by hand, apresser bar which can be moved away from the needles, a series of bitson which the courses are drawn and knitted and which bits can be raisedand lowered by means of a hand lever, and a detachable bar with transferpoints disposed so that the loops can be readily transferred from theneedles on to the said points.

The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanyingdrawing, in which Fig, 1 is a front elevation, and

Fig. 2 an end elevation of appliance for knitting courses atintermediate points in a garment or piece of fabric constructedaccording to this invention.

Fig. 3 is a vertical cross section of the appliance.

Fig. 4 is a view showing the knitting cams detached.

Figs. 5 to 9 inclusive are diagrams illustrating the operationsperformed on the appliance.

Like letters indicate like parts throughout the drawing.

just below the cam box D.

In the preferred construction which is shown in the drawing, a series ofpreferably bearded needles A are disposed vertically in tricks in aneedle bar B, which latter is as shown, secured to a rail C whichcarries the whole of the mechanism. The rail C may be mounted onstandards or secured at a convenient height to a fixture.

The needles A are independent, that is, they can slide in the tricks inthe needle bar B, so that they can be operated in succession and willthus draw their own loops in the yarn supplied to them, and the use ofsinkers is not necessitated. In order to operate these needles insuccession, they are formed with butts A which engage in knitting camsin a cam box D which is disposed at the front of the needle barB and isadapted to slide on two shafts E disposed in front of and parallel tothe needle bar B. The ends of these two shafts E are secured in endbrackets F secured to the rail C, and the cam box D thereon isfittedwith ordinary knitting 'cams D which are adapted to draw theneedles down when it is traversed from right to left as'seen in Fig. l,and are adapted to raise the needles again when it is traversed fromleft to right.

Associated with the knitting cams D which are shown more clearly in Fig.4, is an extension J of the cams in the cam box D, and this extension Jis located under the butts A of the needles A and holds them all up whenthe cam box is on the right as shown in Fig. 1. This facilitates theoperation of running the work on the needles as the latter cannot thenbe pushed down. Attached to the cam box D is a handle D by means ofwhich the cam box can be conveniently traversed, and associated withthis handle is an arrangement for performing another operation that willbe hereinafter described.

A presser bar K is provided, and it is carried on the upper free ends ofside arms L which are mounted on a shaft M carried in bearings M in thebrackets F, so that the said bar K can be moved back out of the way'whenwork is being run on the needles, springs L connected to the arms Lbeing provided to hold it in its operative position in which it is shownin Fig. 2.

The presser bar K is drawn back as described by the followingarrangement. The arms L are formed with forward extensions L and a bar Gwhich is secured to these extensions is disposed This bar is providedwith raised parts G at each end, and a roller Gr on the cam box D whichruns along the bar, acts upon the raised parts G and depresses the bar Gat the end of each traversing movement and thus withdraws the presser Kfrom the needles.

Above the needles A is a longitudinal. bar V fitted with transfer pointsV. This bar V is not fixed, but its ends are carried in recessesdisposed at the upper ends of brackets W secured to the rail C. This barV is not in position when the courses are drawn, but is placed inposition after this operation in order to receive the loops, and is thenremoved with the work.

The cam box D for actuating the-needles A, is further fitted in additionto the knitting cams, with a thread carrier D to which a supply of yarnis carried, and associated with this thread carrier is a spring clip Dto hold the loose end of the yarn.

In the present arrangement, the courses are drawn and knitted on. thebits P which project between the needles and are carried on a bar PThese bits P are similar to the knocking over bits in an ordinarymachine, but perform a different ofiice, that is, the courses are drawnand knitted directly upon them, and they are raised in order to transferthe loops from the needles A to the transfer points as will behereinafter described. This arrangment obviates the necessity foractuating the needles A and the points V when transferring the loopsfrom the former to the latter, and simplifies the construction of theappliance and its operation.

In order to raise the bits P, the bar P is carried on the upper end ofarms Q which are secured I on a shaft Q the shaft Q is mounted in theupper ends of side links R which are mounted on a shaft S which ismounted in short arms S secured on a shaft T fitted with a hand lever TThe shaft T ismounted in bearing T in the end brackets F and bydepressing this hand lever T on the shaft T, the bits P can be raisedhigh enough .to-transfer the loops from the needles A, to the transferpoints V which are carried on the detachable bar V 7 The bits P arefurther moved in between the needles to .a more or less'extent asrequired by the following arrangement. The handle D associated with thecam box D is mounted on a member D which is pivoted at D to the saidbox, and the member D is thus turned about its pivot each time it isused to traverse the cam box. Disposed on the member D are twocam partsD and D", and these cam parts act on the shaft Q and. draw the bits Pback a little when drawing a course and let them in so that the hooksthereon will hold the work down when the needles are being raised. Theshaft Q is held up to the cam parts D and D by means of a spring Qconnected to its end.

In front of the needles is a shield Y in which the front part of thework'can be placed when so drawing the course and this shield is securedto '70 a course, and while the needles Aare down (see Fig. 6), the partof the garments X at the front of the needles is then turned to the rearas shown in Fig. 7, that is, to the same side as the other part, and theneedles A are then raised by traversing the cam box D to the right,leaving the new course on the needle stems as shown in Fig. 8.

The loops of the course now on the needles or those of any succeedingcourse that may be knitted, can now be transferred to the transferpoints V on the bar V which is placed in position in the brackets W, byraising the bits P, and when this operation is completed, the bar Vwhich carries the transfer points V can be removed together with thegarment, as shown in Fig. 9. The loops ,on the points can then besubsequently readily transferred to the needles of an ordinary knittingmachine, where the remainder of the heel parts can be knitted.

The advantage of the arrangement described, is, that it does notnecessitate the provision. of special facilities for performing thisoperation on each of the ordinary machines employed in knitting hose,and as the operation of running on and knitting the first courses andtransferring the loops to points on transfer bars, ready to trans ferthem to a machine, is done on the independent appliance, the ordinarymachines are not kept standing while the operation is being performed ineach separate division of the same, and consequently a considerablesaving in tim is effected.

A further advantage is that the same appliance can be adapted forperforming the same operation when required, on any kind of knittedgarment or article. a

What we claim is:

1. Apparatus for knitting a course at an intermediate point in agarment, comprising in com bination, a needle bar with butted needles"mounted in tricks therein, a hand traversed needle actuating cam boxwith cams to engage with the needle butts, a thread carrier on the cambox, bits associated with the needles on which the courses are drawn andkitted, a presser bar which can be moved away from the needles so as toleave the latter clear for running on and a detachable bar with pointsdisposed so thatthe loops of the courses knitted on the needles can bereadily transferred thereto, substantially as;

described.

2. Apparatus for knitting :a course at an intermediate point in agarment comprising in combination, a needle bar with butted needlesmountedin tricks therein, a hand traversed needle actuating cam box withknitting cams which are extended to one side of the cam box so as tohold up the needles when the cam box is at one end of the needle-bar, athread carrier, bits associated with the needles on which the coursesare drawn and knitted, a presser bar movable away from the needles, anda detachable bar with points disposed so that the loops of the coursesknitted on the needles can be readily transferred thereto, substantiallyas described.

3. Apparatus for knitting a course at an intermediate point in a garmentcomprising in combination, a needle bar with butted needles mounted intricks therein, a hand traversed needle actuated cam box with cams toengage with the? needle butts, a thread carrier, bits associated withthe needles on which the courses are drawn and knitted, a presser barmovable away from the needles, a detachable bar with points disposed soas to engage with the needles and means for raising the bits associatedwith the needles in order to transfer theloops from the needles to thepoints,substantially as described.

4. Apparatus for knitting a course at an intermediate point in a garmentcomprising in combination, a needle-bar with butted needles mounted intricks therein, a hand traversed needle actuating cam box with cams toengage with the needle butts, a thread carrier, bits associated with theneedles on which the courses are drawn and knitted, a presser barmovable away from the needles, a detachable bar with points disposed sothat the loops of the courses knitted on the needles can be readilytransferred thereto, a pivoted handle on the cam box, and camsassociated therewith adapted to move the hits associated with theneedles into engagement with the latter to a more or less extent,substantially as described. 5. Apparatus for knitting a course at anintermediate point in a garment comprising in combination, a needle barwith butted needles mounted in tricks therein, a hand traversed needleactuating cam box with cams to engage with the neeedle butts, a threadcarrier, bits associated with the needles on which the courses are drawnand knitted, a presser bar movable away from the needles, and a bar withpoints disposed so that the loops of the courses knitted on the needlescan be transferred thereto said bar being detachably mounted in recessesin brackets disposed so that it can be removed with the loops of aknitted course together with the garment in which the course is knittedsubstantially as described.

6. Apparatus for knitting a course at an intermediate point in a garmentcomprising in combination, a needle bar with butted needles mounted intricks therein, a hand traversed needle actuating cam box with cams toengage with the needle butts, a thread carrier, bits associated with theneedles on which the courses are drawn and knitted, a presser barcarried by arms on a shaft, a bar provided with cam lifts at each endsecured to said arms and disposed along the underside of the cam box, aroller on the cam box bearing on the said bar so that the presser iswithdrawn from the needles by the cam box at each end of its traverse,and a detachable bar with points disposed so that the loops of thecourses knitted on the needles can be readily transferred thereto,substantially as described.

HARRY WILFRED START. ERNEST START.

